Infirmary
by Seto's Darkness
Summary: They meet each other in the infirmary way too often for their liking. .: Kanda/Allen, Yullen, HS AU :.


**Request**: by **shinya_diey** from LJ :)  
><strong>Notes<strong>: Originally posted in my LJ last 22 Mar 2010.  
><strong>Classification<strong>: Kanda/Allen, BL, AU. Kind of fluffy? Sort of similar with my other Yullen oneshot, Countdown to Love :] /lol shameless plugging;;;

•

It started with a nick on his finger.

Allen isn't the type to go to the infirmary often—he avoids the white walls, white sheets and white coats as much as possible—with all the tainted memories of his childhood regarding hospital visits and unpaid bills, both thanks to the most irresponsible, most despicable man to ever walk on Earth.

Lenalee turned her puppy eyes at him, a sure-fire method to make him submit to her will, after reminding him that his first-aid kit was borrowed by someone and wasn't returned yet.

Anyway.

So it was only because of a cut on his finger, from their Home Economics cooking class, from Lavi's lack of attention and misjudging the distance between the knife and Allen's hand.

Allen, being the polite gentleman that he is, knocks on the door softly but lets himself in when there wasn't the welcoming chirp of 'come in~' courtesy of Lenalee's (definitely a nutcase) _eccentric_ older brother. He is expecting either Reever (buried in his books) or nobody at all, but he surely isn't expecting the presence of a taller upperclassman.

"Hello," Allen starts carefully, friendly smile in place as he takes in the sight of the somewhat-familiar upperclassman, curiously watching the other wrap bandages on pale wrists and long fingers. A wooden sword is propped against the wall. "May I use the bandages as well?" Allen watches a dark eyebrow rise up to hide beneath long bangs. "After you, of course."

The sweet smile that won over the hearts of everyone he knows (and there are a lot of people who he doesn't know too) falters, cracks, _dissolves_ when instead of the other inclining his head in agreement or murmuring a 'sure, no problem' or graciously handing him the first aid kit, the upperclassman made a rude noise instead.

"Che."

Allen twitched when he heard the most condescending, most patronizing, most annoying sound he ever heard in his life (aside from Cross' drunken ramblings and Cross' special 'lectures' that always ended up with Allen distracted and being hunted down by debt collectors, but Cross is on a completely different level of annoying—).

Allen parts his lips to ask using a polite, controlled, calm speech—

"Bandage for a tiny cut?" Was that a _smirk_? "How weak."

—politeness be damned. "Excuse me?"

"Didn't you hear me?" A lazy drawl, but the other's black eyes are burning. "I called you _weak_," The other draws to his full height, glaring down at Allen snottily, "...beansprout."

So, it all started with a nick on his finger.

•

The next time he went to the infirmary—_well_. An accident (Crowley) caused a basketball to make contact (practically _smash_) with his head (colliding with his mouth, nose, forehead), causing a bump (and nearly separated his head from the rest of his body) and some dizziness (he can't even stand up straight).

He's alone, because it's the day before the Sports Festival, and everybody's busy with practicing for their respective sports, everybody's running around finishing up with the decorations. He can't possibly trouble anyone to guide him to the infirmary. It's not like he can't lean against the walls for support.

His dizziness clears up (a _bit_) instantly when he spots a familiar (annoying) person in the infirmary.

Komui and Reever are nowhere to be found.

"Kanda," Allen bites out the name, since now he has a name to go along with the sulky senior's always-sulking face. It's only been a month since they last saw each other in the infirmary, but Allen has been hyper-aware of the senior's presence since then. He justifies it as self-preservation—having constant high blood pressure isn't good for anyone's health. (Lavi calls it an obsession, but even with a genius-level IQ, Lavi can get things wrong.)

Kanda glares at him, but doesn't say anything. He continues to unwrap the bandages from his wrist and fingers, flexing them this way and that. Allen loathes to admit that he's a little fascinated with the way those fingers move in the air, small appendages commanding his attention so easily.

Allen notices that the wooden sword is propped against the wall in the exact same position as last time. (He's not sure why he notices such useless things.)

"You look like shit," Kanda observes astutely after a moment, black eyes trailing over Allen's hands fumbling for the ice pack, "...beansprout."

Wincing at the sudden coldness, Allen prioritizes placing the ice over his face over snapping back at the unsociable senior. "My name's Allen, _jerk_."

It's either Kanda has a ridiculously low IQ or he enjoys being a jackass—with the way he refuses to call him by his name, Allen is tempted to believe it's the former. It wouldn't really surprise him if Kanda only managed to get by because of his exceptional contributions to the line of trophies in the school display. This school's kendo club dominates the entire country, after all.

"Are you sure you should be playing high school basketball?" Kanda asks snidely. "Maybe you should consider joining the elementary school team instead?"

At first, he wants to ask about _how_ Kanda knew that he got the injury from basketball (he never played basketball on campus before, after all) but— "I'm not a midget, jackass. And stop distracting me!"

Kanda harrumphed, crossing his arms over his chest, leaning against the wall, watching Allen fuss over the blossoming bruise on his face.

Allen ended up returning to the court for their afternoon practice, with his bruise accompanied by a satisfied smile.

•

The third time is—

"Let go of me," Kanda snarls, tugging at his arms, which are currently entrapped in Reever's hold.

—eh?

"Allen-kun! Please wait over there okay~ We're finishing up with Kanda-ch_aaaaan_—"

"...What are you doing?" Allen asks, intrigued despite the multitude of curses streaming out of Kanda's lips and the almost-wild flailing of limbs.

"We suspect that someone drugged Kanda-kun's drink," Reever explains after dodging another round of Kanda's struggling, "so we're checking if his mobility is okay and—"

"He seems to be moving around fine," Allen mutters, setting the papers he's supposed to deliver to Komui on the table, before sitting beside the stack, swinging his legs as he watches the spectacle in the infirmary.

"Aaah, last time he competed even though his fingers are barely functioning—"

"I _won_," Kanda's glare is enough to melt steel, "and the beansprout doesn't need to know that."

Instead of feeling the wave of annoyance he usually feels whenever he sees Kanda (hears Kanda's name, anything related to Kanda), Allen only feels a spark of interest and a flicker of grudging admiration. Only Kanda is determined enough to compete and lord over his opponents even while drugged. If he's held at gunpoint, it's probably the one thing he'll admit to liking about the upperclassman. But only if he's held at gunpoint, which won't happen as long as he stays away from Cross and his mountain of debts.

"That sounds interesting," Allen remarks after a short moment of contemplation, eyes meeting Kanda's glare head-on, "...I think I'll stay."

So Allen spends a few extra moments in the infirmary which he doesn't hate so much now, smile wide as he listens to the tales (probably 50% lies and exaggerations) Komui and Reever shared about Kanda's stubborn attitude.

(The wooden sword is still propped up against the wall in the exact same way, but Allen doesn't notice that at all, because all of his attention is focused on Kanda now.)

•

The fourth—

"Are you okay? IDIOT KANDA!"

"Che, don't be so loud—"

Allen didn't know what possessed him to practically fly across the room towards Kanda. Or more specifically, towards Kanda's chest. But he's suddenly hugging the senior's torso, relief making his mind go dizzy and his knees go wobbly.

Trust Lavi to exaggerate about Kanda's situation. And trust him to actually believe Lavi's words.

"Thank goodness you're alive," Allen says with a half-chuckle and half-snort, prompting Kanda to roll his eyes. Or rather, his _eye_, since his left eye is hidden behind bandages.

"Of course I'm alive, idiot," Kanda retorts, but he doesn't sound as angry as he used to. Allen likes to think that it's because the other is starting to consider them as friends, no matter how odd a friendship it may be, and not because the pain medication is mellowing Kanda out.

As immediately as he flew towards Kanda's bedside, Allen jolts out of his awkward, onesided embrace, if only to peer at Kanda's bandaged face. It feels strange to meet only one of Kanda's black eyes. Not that it lessened the amount of _will_ Allen sees there, but because, well. It just is weird.

Allen refuses to think about how Kanda's pretty face is wasted with a bandage tacked on.

But Allen entertains the thought of finding out the opponent that played dirty and attacked Kanda's face and eyes on the national kendo competition. Allen reminds himself that it's only so he can find out how someone (_some lowlife_) managed to catch the "sword-demon" off-guard.

(And maybe remind that scum that as the person that suffers most from Kanda's insults and annoying personality, _he_ should be the first one to start kicking Kanda's ass and _succeed_.)

(And maybe, also inform that unfortunate person that nobody hurt Allen's friends. Just maybe.)

•

The fifth—

"There's no need to be shy, Yuu-chan!"

"Lavi's right! I'm sure he'll appreciate your visit~"

Allen hears the familiar voices, accompanied by the rush of footsteps against the hallway floor. There was a mini-chaos from behind the door and Allen has a sinking feeling on what's going to happen next.

He doesn't even have a chance to prepare himself when the door unceremoniously slides open with a loud screech. There are three figures by the door: two with mischievous grins, one with a fearsome scowl.

Kanda looks about ready to explode. Allen questions his two friends' mental health—they were clearly asking for trouble, those two. He's kind of relieved that Kanda's sword is not in the vicinity, though he's sure that if Kanda wanted to, he can cause serious damage with a _pillow_. But that's beside the point.

Allen's relief grows when he sees Kanda lean against the wall, shrug off Lenalee's firm hold, and cross his arms across his chest. There's no doubt that Kanda's not here out of his free will. Nevertheless, Allen is happy with the sight of the sulky senior near the foot of his bed.

"Just so you know," Allen starts, ignoring Lavi's teasing jabs and Lenalee's indulgent sigh, ignoring the dull throb in his cheek and the sharp sting in his ribs, "I didn't do it for you."

Kanda levels him with a glare, before turning his head to the side. "Che."

"Aww, nevermind him, Allen!" Lavi cuts in jovially, bouncing to the spot beside Allen's ear. "Yuu-chan's just being shy!"

Lenalee puts on her most disappointed look, scolding pose ready with both hands on her hips. "I just wish that you told us about your plan."

"Nah~ Allen wanted to be the knight in shining armor all by himself~ "

"L-L-Lavi!" Allen wasn't thinking about that, really. He just wanted to make them pay for hurting his—

"I'm not some goddamn damsel in distress." Kanda snaps back to his tense posture, body moving away from the wall. "The beansprout just likes picking fights that's not his to solve."

"T-That's not very nice, Kanda-kun!"

"Still! Yuu-chan must show his thanks! He can give our handsome hero a kiss for his efforts?"

"No way in hell." Kanda stomps out of the infirmary, his words taking a chilling tone.

But Allen knows better.

After all, he's sure that he didn't just imagine the light blush on Kanda's cheeks before he left.

•

Allen steps inside the infirmary, lips quirking to a smile when he spots Kanda subtly-not-waiting-for-him.

It is their routine, to meet up in the infirmary during their free time. They never talked about it, never tried to make plans, never asked Komui or Reever for the keys (though the doors always remain open, be it before classes start, be it during lunch-break, be it after-class), never talked about the routine that grew between them.

Allen is fine with things that way, really.

He sees the wooden sword propped against the wall and thinks that maybe learning kendo won't be so bad.

"Teach me how to kick your ass in kendo, idiot Kanda," he says as soon as he enters the white-white-white room, grinning at the raised eyebrow that Kanda graced him with.

"I'm going to make you regret that," Kanda promises with an answering grin of his own.

It started on their meeting here.

Allen is confident that it won't end here either.

•  
><strong>end<strong>.


End file.
